Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Colombia
Colombia: Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age was 8.1% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Colombia, 2000–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
Colombia recorded 8.1% for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in 2024.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 28.4% on the previous year and up 15.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Colombia peaked at 23.8% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 5.1%, in 2020.
That places Colombia 26th out of 45 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 22 years of available data.
Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Colombia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 23.8% | — |
| 2002 | 18.2% | -23.5% |
| 2003 | 17.0% | -6.6% |
| 2004 | 15.4% | -9.4% |
| 2005 | 14.7% | -4.4% |
| 2008 | 10.5% | -28.7% |
| 2009 | 9.1% | -13.3% |
| 2010 | 6.7% | -26.5% |
| 2011 | 9.3% | +39.1% |
| 2012 | 9.6% | +3.2% |
| 2013 | 7.7% | -19.8% |
| 2014 | 7.0% | -9.1% |
| 2015 | 6.3% | -9.3% |
| 2016 | 6.8% | +7.1% |
| 2017 | 7.3% | +7.4% |
| 2018 | 6.5% | -11.0% |
| 2019 | 6.3% | -3.1% |
| 2020 | 5.1% | -19.0% |
| 2021 | 5.6% | +9.8% |
| 2022 | 6.3% | +12.5% |
| 2023 | 6.3% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 8.1% | +28.4% |
Colombia compared with similar countries
- Colombia's 8.1% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 4.1%, 2.0× the median. (13 countries reporting)
- Colombia's 8.1% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 4.1%, 2.0× the median. (15 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 15.5% | 9.1% | 23.8% | 7 |
| 2010s | 7.4% | 6.3% | 9.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 6.3% | 5.1% | 8.1% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Colombia
- 23 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 12.0% compare
- 24 Malawi 11.9% compare
- 25 El Salvador 10.5% compare
- 27 Ecuador 7.7% compare
- 28 Bolivia, Plurinational State of 7.6% compare
- 29 Kenya 6.5% compare
More education data for Colombia
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 190,940 (2022)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 234,939 (2022)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 963,182 (2022)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 937,684 (2022)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 4.85 million (2022)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 4.14 million (2022)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -1.2 % change on previous year (2022)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2022)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.08 units per person (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Colombia?
- Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age in Colombia was 8.1% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age recorded in Colombia?
- The highest recorded value was 23.8% in 2000.
- What is the lowest out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age recorded in Colombia?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.1% in 2020.
- How does Colombia rank for out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age?
- Colombia ranks 26th out of 45 countries with data for 2024.
- Is out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age rising or falling in Colombia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 15.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Colombia data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Out-of-school rate for adolescents of lower secondary school age, rural, both sexes (household survey data) (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 22 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release